This map includes some uncertain geography, despite Sanson’s growing reputation for accuracy over embellishment. The ‘Terre Megellanique, Australe, et Incogneue’ is vast, and less well defined than even 

’s map of 1531. The Pacific Northwest coast of North America remains as open-ended as Sanson’s previous maps ‘Amerique Septentrionale’ (1650) and ‘Mappe-Monde’ (1651). Japan, labelled ‘Terre de Yezo, ou Iesso’, is a long one-sided land, and the depiction of the lands of the Arctic Circle implies a distinct possibility for a Northwest Passage to and from the East.

The Sunderland Collection

Nicolas Sanson d'Abbeville’s map is important in the history of polar mapping. It was one of the first to use this dual-hemisphere format. Previous depictions focused on only one of the poles, whereas Sanson sought to show the extremes at both ends of the earth. Despite Sanson’s innovative polar projection, his map harbours some interesting cartographical inaccuracies, including the unfinished Pacific Northwest coastline of North America.

Sanson’s double-hemisphere world map on a polar (or azimuthal) projection was published in his atlas ‘Les Cartes Generales de Toutes les Parties du Monde’ (1668). Employed as the ‘Geographe du Roi’ (Royal Geographer), to Kings Louis XIII and Louis XIV, Sanson's maps heralded the dawn of the age of the French School of Cartography, which is characterised by sparse elegance and scientific precision. This same aesthetic can be see in his earlier world map of 1651.

This is a beautiful first edition example of Nicolas Sanson’s map of the world on a polar (or azimuthal) projection.

The Two Poles, Arctic or Northern, and Antarctic or Southern

Les Deux Poles Arctique ou Septentrional, et Antarctique ou Meridional

Sanson’s Map of the Poles

or, a Description of the Lands of the Arctic and Antarctic, and the Surrounding Countries to 45 Degrees Latitude. By N. Sanson d'Abbeville, Geographer in Ordinary to His Majesty, with a Privilege for Twenty Years

ou Description des Terres Arctiques et Antarctiques, et des Pays Circomvoisins Jusques aux 45 Degres de Latitude. Par N. Sanson d’Abbeville Geographe ord.re du Roy. Avec Privilege pour Vingt Ans